Community
Museum Experiences
For Children And Teens
Can an 18th century English car-
icature teach something about the
public's view of Jews at this time
and place in history? What does a
photograph of a crowd of youths
saying Havdalah in Berlin tell about
Jewish life in Germany today? How
do the threads in quilts and tapes-
tries relate to Jewish storytelling and
the connection of one generation to
another? What can studying an
artistic glass vase tell us about
ancient trade routes?
"Museum Experience," sponsored
by the Jewish Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit, pursues such
topics. Each time a new exhibit
arrives in the Janice Charach
Epstein Museum/Gallery at the
JCC, a new curriculum is developed
to help school-aged children and
teens learn to draw meaning from
the art and explore enriching areas
of Jewish learning.
Now in the second year of a
three-year grant from the Max M.
Fisher Community Foundation,
Museum Experience has provided
the opportunity for 1,200 young
people to learn about art and
Judaism. Participants benefiting
from the program have ranged in
age from 3-16. They are drawn from
diverse places, including local day
schools, synagogue schools, JCC
and YWCA summer camps and even
a Christian youth group.
While most Museum Experience
programs are free, others carry a
nominal charge. This covers the cost
of any materials used or for bringing
in an artist to do special workshops
with groups, reinforcing concepts
learned after returning to the class-
room
The current Museum Experience
is based on a black-and-white pho-
tographic exhibit by Ron Agam
titled "At the Wall." This exhibit
explores Chasidic Jews in Jerusalem
and at the kotel, the Western Wall.
The curriculum is appropriate for
grades 5-12.
The curriculum for the next
exhibit, "Threads That Wind;
Threads That Bind," from Jan. 14-
Feb. 25, is appropriate for grades 1-
5. A focus will be on how stories get
passed on from generation to gener-
ation through heirlooms, often
made of thread. Hands-on activities
will be incorporated, such as patch-
work, decorating fabric for a patch
on a quit : and creating jewelry from
yarn.
In the works is a curriculum for a
glass exhibit in March and April.
Activity stations for children in 3rd-
5th grades may focus on how sand is
made into glass, sand as a symbol of
Abraham's descendants, the role of
glass in ancient trade routes and cre-
ating jewelry with glass beads or art
with colored sand.
Museum Experience is run out of
the JCC Department of Jewish Life
and Learning. While gallery curator
Sylvia Nelson brings exhibits to the
gallery, Lisa Bernstein, youth and
family education coordinator, devel-
ops the curricula to correlate with
the exhibits and delivers the pro-
grams to youth and school groups.
Participation in Museum Experience
is by appointment only; call (248)
•
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SZ Plans
Family Service
Congregation Shaarey Zedek will
offer a new Saturday morning family
service, created for families with
young children. The 45-minute ser-
vice will feature songs, a skit by the
junior congregation, English read-
ings and Torah discussions.
The next service will be 11-11:45
a.m. Saturday, Dec. 19, in the
Tikvah Chapel.
Cheers For
Our Veterans
Members of the Lt. Roy F. Green
Post and Ladies Auxiliary of the
Jewish War Veterans will bring cloth-
ing, fruit and sundry items to the
Battle Creek VA Hospital patients
on Dec. 25. The bus will leave the
JWV Memorial Home at 8 a.m.
Another contingent will make the
trip to the Ann Arbor VA medical
facility.
These events are financed largely
through May poppy sales.
For information or to take part in
the trips, contact the JWV office,
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